Citizen Kane: A Truly Boring Movie.

I was informed by Dr. Clark that this film, Citizen Kane, was considered the best film America has to offer. Sure I was excited to find out what the big deal was after hearing this. I thought this movie will be something like the Godfather, a film without much 'action' scenes but focusing more on dialogue and the cinematography of the movie. However, I was deeply disappointed in Citizen Kane as I felt it was focusing too much on the cinematography of the film rather then the content.
This became evident at the very beginning when there were a lot of flashbacks of Kane himself; however, the exchanges in dialogue throughout these scenes were just plain boring and the actors had this pretentious and unnatural accents. The content of the film was basically focusing on Mr. Kane's high and low moments in his life. There was this obsession about him that if he didn't get what he wanted, there would be a cost for his friendships he had. It was rather predictable and nothing new that I've observed and learnt. When Kane's wife left him, I would usually feel a sense of hopelessness at this point, however, in this film I barely even felt any emotion whatsoever! This shows that the director has failed to capture the spirit of the audience and their emotion.

Dreams, Nightmares, and Hopes

The novel, Slumdog Millionaire, written by Vikas Swarup, invigorates the readers by depicting the real India to his audience by writing about the true atmosphere and characters living in the dumps of Mumbai. Danny Boyle's re-creation of the film somewhat captures the spirit of the book but the film does not show us the true personality of the main character, Jamal.

          In the film, there are many flashbacks throughout the " Who Wants to be a Millionaire" TV show of Jamal's life and through these remembrances, the explanation of  how he knows all the answers to the questions on the show are revealed. The film captures the spirit of the book through the beginning scenes; there are many images of the slums and hardships that children in India have to experience through their entire lives. There is a scene in the film whereby Jamal is a young boy and he has to use the public bathroom and one of his friends purposely locks him inside just as a famous Indian celebrity arrives in his helicopter and is Jamal's idol. Jamal literally has to jump down in to the pile of feces, sprinting to obtain the cherished autograph of his idol. This part of the film truly captures the spirit of the book as it depicts how determined this young, poor kid is as he fights to get what he wants- in this case, the autograph of a famous person. The book emphasises the desperation which poverty-stricken children will go in order to achieve what they desire.

          Nevertheless, the film does not capture the spirit of the book because of the weak characterisation of Jamal. As the story begins both in the book and in the film, Jamal is a Chai-La (Tea pourer) in a telecommunications company in Mumbai. He get's the opportunity to appear as a contestant on the "Who Wants to be a Millionaire" TV programme and as sweet as this may sound, the only motive for Jamal to appear on the program is to get the attention of his long lost love, Latika. The novel uses a great deal of dialogue that allows the reader to understand Jamal's thinking, revealing his character traits such as determination, selflessness, and compassion. However, in the film itself, it was rather more of a romantic movie where Jamal comes in to the city and tries to hunt down his long-lost love, Latika, with many dramatic scenes of him trying to take her away from her rude, filthy rich mobster who controls her life. This story line is extremely predictable as is the ending as they both become reunited after he appears on the TV show and wins the top prize of twenty million Rupees. I was not taken away or surprised by this ending as it is similar to a pedestrian cliche of a romantic love story of two lost lovers who have been separated due to economic reasons and now they are reunited once again.

          Understanding the motives of Danny Boyle while directing the film allows one to comprehend that the movie is intended to leave the audience with a 'feel good' feeling. Visually, seeing the emotions of the actors can be very powerful to the viewing audience. They want to identify with conquering hero and the film does just that. The problem with this is that Boyle loses the genuine aspect of allowing his audience to experience the tough life of India while the novel suggests that these fairytale stories do not happen all the time. The novel maintains the moral of the story-- that life is not perfect all the time-- and that even though the two lovers finally get reunited at the end, the novel still gives the reader the inkling that this is not common and luck was on Jamal's side in helping him to reach the happy ending.

           The adaptation of this film to the novel, is somewhat close to the original intent but it glorifies and horrifies the audience at the same time. Through the visual images and the dramatic, musical score, the film completely captures the audience in a way the book cannot do. Even though the film does not allow the viewer to get inside Jamal's head as thoroughly as it does in the novel, the impact of the visual action leaves the audience breathless.  A positive outcome of the film is that it allows large numbers of people to become more aware of what is happening in countries such as India. Although the book certainly gives the reader an accurate picture of Mumbai, the film shows life as it appears and through this media, the message of poverty and hopelessness turned to hope is seen to millions of people as evidenced through the awards that the film has received.

Blood Before Vows

Don Vito's youngest son, Michael, was originally a military officer that promised his wife, Kay, that he would not be involved in the illegal activities of his family. Throughout the film, Michael is consistently reminded, psychologically, that he has a duty to his family no matter how much he may try to avoid it. Even Vito Corleone has dreams that his son will become a legitimate businessman or government official, although in reality, Corleone knows this will never happen and his dream of Michael's success will become Vito Corleone's nightmare. It is interesting to see the shift of power as Vito Corleone "Godfather's" status declines as he is targeted to be eliminated by the other Mafia families. Michael's transformation in self becomes very apparent when Michael makes the decision to destroy the other families that killed his brother and father. Never wanting to be in the position to finds himself in, Michael is anointed as the new "Godfather" as his wife, in the shadows, witnesses the homage given to her husband by members of the family kissing his hand. Michael has deceived his wife-- the wife to whom he promised loyalty and legitimacy-- and the saga continues as it did with his father. The entire film portrays Michael's conflicting alliances between the woman he loves and the family he is born into. The vows that he made in marriage will not hold up against the strength of bloodlines.

Prompt 2- Rear window

The second part of rear window uses editing to play an important role to convey the message to us about the traits and emotions of the characters. The editing showed us the reactions towards the dialogue whilst the characters were engaged in the conversation. There was a scene when Lisa enters Jeff’s flat and she was talking about something; however, the camera cuts to see Jeff smile and this is in reaction to Lisa arriving in his apartment and allows the audience to see that he is in love with her. 

Slumdog Millionaire: Status vs. Knowledge

In the novel, Slumdog Millionaire, written by Vikas Sawerup, was a true story based on a teenager named Jamal Malik and he grew up in the slums of Mumbai. The novel clearly illustrates what a tough life it had to worry about whether or not he will be fed his next meal. This main character gets chosen to appear as a contestant on the “Who wants to be a millionaire” TV program in India. The producers were certain that he would not get far in the program as he came from a slum and would not know a lot of the questions the show will ask him. However, to everyone’s surprise Jamal answers all the questions correctly and the authorities are under suspicion that he is cheating. Before the million-dollar question, Jamal gets detained and questioned by the police. The police ask him how he knows these questions and he answers by telling them stories of his life and anecdotes that would lead him to know these questions. The spirit of this film is that not to judge you’re up bringing and your economic status. Just because you grew up in a slum doesn’t necessarily mean your mind would be impaired of common knowledge. This film depicts a message to all of us for not judging people on their class but on their personal experiences. And that we can never forget. 

My Personal Film Experience

             After investing his life savings into something that he thought was going to make him money, life suddenly belly flops on him. In The Pursuit of Happyness, Christopher Gardner (Will Smith) has just lost his home, his wife, and his career yet, Gardner holds his head up high and gets an internship at a stockbroking company and later on earns a place in the company through hard work and perseverance.

          Christopher Gardner is stuck in a dilemma between his wife, son, and his jobless existence. He invested all his money in a CT Scan company by purchasing the scanners in a bulk amount; however, after a couple of months this business venture failed drastically. The scanners literally could not sell; consequently, he loses his house due to not paying his mortgage and bank loans. Not only does he lose his house, he loses his wife also. For the first time in his life, he and his beloved son, Christopher Jr. are homeless. At this point of the movie, I started to remember losing something that I cherished, my grandmother. I was thirteen years old when I lost my grandmother to cancer and being a young adolescent, my mind literally couldn't take the grief that engulfed me.

          The connection I make with Gardner is a unique one because we both thought that our tragedy would be the end of our lives as we knew it. This was not the case for Gardner and his perseverance inspired me. I was fortunate to have a grandmother who showered me with love when I was little. She was always there for me when I came home from school and wanted to hear my stories and adventures of the day. Whenever I was upset with my parents, my grandmother was there to comfort me and to make me feel important. Her death left me devastated. Gardner, too, was overcome with sorrow when he thought he lost everything that would make him successful and happy. Through Gardner's example of never losing hope and always being optimistic about the future, he became successful and received an even better gift-- the admiration and love from his son. This gave me hope that I could go forward and remember that my grandmother was still alive in my heart and the memories I collected would never die.

           The look on Gardner's face when he found out that he lost his house was such a memorable one. His eyes, filled with fury and determination to get back right on track, invigorated me. I remember back to a time when I was frightened when getting up in front of peers to give a presentation. My palms would drip with sweat and my voice would quake. Watching Gardner not be afraid to do what it took, made me realise that giving a speech in front of other people was really trivial compared to other people's problems. I was determined to get over my fear and I eventually did by working hard, preparing a speech in front of a mirror, and feeling that "wow" feeling when you know you've done something well-- just like Gardner.